Illinois Surgeon Faces Court Over Ohio Double Murder Charges
An Illinois doctor indicted on murder charges in connection with the December slayings of his ex-wife and her dentist husband in their Columbus home is due to appear in an Ohio courtroom on Friday.
Details of the Charges and Arrest
Michael David McKee, aged 39, is scheduled to be arraigned in Franklin County on four counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated burglary while using a firearm suppressor. These charges relate to the shooting deaths of Monique Tepe, 39, and Dr. Spencer Tepe, 37, which occurred on December 30.
The case initially drew significant national attention due to its mysterious circumstances, featuring no forced entry, no weapon recovered at the scene, and no obvious signs of theft, additional violence, or a clear motive. McKee, who is from Chicago, was arrested 11 days after the murders near his workplace in Rockford, Illinois. He was subsequently returned to Ohio on Tuesday to face the charges against him.
Background of the Accused
McKee attended a Catholic high school in Zanesville, Ohio, approximately 55 miles east of Columbus, according to the Diocese of Columbus. He enrolled at Ohio State University in September 2005, the same semester as his future wife, then known as Monique Sabaturski. Both graduated with bachelor's degrees in June 2009.
Sabaturski went on to earn a master of education degree from Ohio State in 2011, while McKee obtained his medical degree from the same institution in 2014. The couple married in Columbus in August 2015 but were living apart by the time Monique filed for divorce in May 2017, with the divorce being granted that June.
At the time of the divorce, McKee was residing in Virginia. He completed a two-year fellowship in vascular surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center in October 2022. Additionally, McKee has lived in and been licensed to practice medicine in both California and Nevada, where he was named in a personal injury lawsuit in a Las Vegas court in 2023.
OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Illinois, where McKee was employed at the time of his arrest, declined to provide specific details regarding his employment dates. His Illinois medical license became active in October 2024.
Allegations and Evidence
An Ohio grand jury indicted McKee in the double homicide last week. He is accused of illegally entering the Tepes' home with a firearm equipped with a silencer, shooting the couple—whose bodies were discovered in a second-floor bedroom—and then leaving the property via a dark alley adjacent to the house.
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant has stated that McKee was identified as the individual seen walking down that alley in video footage captured on the night of the murders. She also confirmed that a gun found in his Chicago apartment was a ballistic match to evidence at the scene and that his vehicle's movements were tracked from Columbus back to Illinois.
McKee is charged with two aggravated murder counts for each homicide: one for prior calculation and design and one for committing the crime, in addition to the aggravated burglary count. If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility after 32 years and a maximum term of life in prison without parole.
Discovery of the Murders
Columbus police conducted a wellness check on Spencer Tepe at around 10 a.m. on December 30, after his manager at a dental practice in Athens, Ohio, reported that he had not shown up for work. The manager described Tepe's tardiness as very concerning and "out of character," according to a 911 call.
Prior to this, another individual had called to request a wellness check. Subsequently, a distraught man who identified himself as a friend of Spencer Tepe contacted the police and reported, "Oh, there’s a body. There’s a body. Oh my God." He added that he could see Spencer Tepe's body off the side of a bed in a pool of blood.
The Franklin County Coroner’s Office determined that the killings were an "apparent homicide by gunshot wounds."
Remembering the Victims
Family members have described the Tepes as "extraordinary people whose lives were filled with love, joy and deep connection to others." They portrayed Monique as a "joyful mother," an avid baker, and a "thoughtful planner." According to their jointly issued obituaries, the couple married in 2020.
Spencer Tepe earned his bachelor's degree from Ohio State University in 2012 and his doctor of dental surgery degree in 2017. He was a member of the American Dental Association and had been involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. The couple had two young children, who were home at the time of the killings but were left unharmed, as was the family dog.
